


A Certain Believer

by tawnyPort



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Obsessive Behavior, implied MidoTaka
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-23
Updated: 2014-02-23
Packaged: 2018-01-13 13:07:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1227520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tawnyPort/pseuds/tawnyPort
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You’re a grown man hiding from the sky by standing on the roof."</p><p>or, I wanted Levi schooling Midorima and nobody else was going to write it so.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Certain Believer

“Where is he, then?”

“Still on the roof, heichou.” Petra clasped her hands behind her back and tilted her head a little.

Levi huffed softly and frowned. “And Takao?”

“Out with the recon team. They’ll be back before dark but he’s been up there since just after morning roll.” Petra shrugged. “He completely ignored me when I tried to talk to him but you’re…”

“More intimidating?” Levi shoved his chair back from his desk.

“Mmm, more influential,” Petra replied, stepping aside as Levi walked past her to the door. Her tone was far too amused for Levi’s liking. Granted, the entire squad had been laughing at Midorima’s obvious and intense distress since yesterday but Levi himself couldn’t see what was so funny about the way the man was driving himself to distraction. 

“You might as well go down to dinner. I’ll see what I can do about getting him inside.” Levi opened a window outside his office and perched one foot on the ledge. “There will be no snickering when we come in, so tell everybody to get it out of their systems now.” With a look of mild surprise and a brief salute, Petra turned on her heel and left. 

After a moment, Levi lifted his other foot and carefully rose to stand on the windowsill, then turned to face the wall and started climbing. The walls themselves were rugged enough to allow him hand and footholds, but he figured Midorima had probably taken the easier route and used his gear to get up. Levi could have done that, but it would have been a waste of fuel and would have cost him the element of surprise.

Midorima was not difficult to spot. Absurd height. Absurd hair. Everything about him was absurd and yet he was probably the most talented killer to come into the Survey Corps since perhaps Levi himself. His precision was unparalleled; striking a small target, slicing deeply and accurately at top speed and from surreal angles seemed to come as naturally to him as walking. That might have been the only thing about him that wasn’t absurd. The gear hung as thoughtlessly on his hips as a belt and, as Levi suspected, he was wearing it now.

“The sunburn you are going to give yourself is only going to serve to make your hair look more ridiculous.” He pulled himself up onto the roof proper, gratified to see the way Midorima started when he called out. _Still got it._ He took a long moment dusting himself off and watched as Midorima collected himself. The other man had been back on to Levi’s angle of approach and he made no move to turn around. 

“I’m aware of the position of the sun and this roof has plenty of places to avoid it,” Midorima replied. Levi’s words seemed to have brought that fact back to the forefront of Midorima’s awareness, however, and he slipped into a nearby shadow, turning sideways to lean against the wall. Levi could see a roll of papers tucked into his belt. They looked wrinkled, careworn, a striking contrast to Midorima’s typically crisp appearance. “What do you want?”

Levi clucked his tongue and ducked into a shadowed spot across from Midorima. He was right; it would probably take more effort to get a sunburn out here than to avoid it. It was getting late and the shadows were long. “The return of the fuel you used to get up here. Wasteful.” Midorima gave him a quick sidelong glance but said nothing. “Alternatively, I’d like to know what the hell you hope to achieve by sulking on the roof with your diary or whatever that is.”

Midorima’s hand went reflexively to the papers--was it shaking?--and his back stiffened. “You know very well what these are. The entire squad knows what these are.” His voice was imperious but also a touch defensive. Levi could hardly blame him.

“Yes, yes, your month of horoscopes. When do they run out again?”

“Tomorrow.” Midorima pushed his goggles up the bridge of his nose and yes, Levi could clearly see now that his hands were shaking. 

“And that’s going to be a very serious problem.” It should have been a question but there was no point in making it one. Midorima’s reaction to the news that his astrologer had gone missing had made him the target of particularly scathing derision from the rest of the squad. Not even Takao’s charisma could fully diffuse it and the pressure only increased as the end of the month drew nearer.

Midorima turned his head to look fully at Levi this time. Levi met his gaze moment for moment until he spoke. “I didn’t expect you to understand but I did think coming all the way up here to antagonize me about something you don’t understand was more Auruo’s style than yours… heichou.” The last word was dripping with false deference. Pretty much precisely as Levi had expected.

“I’m not up here to mock you, I’m up here to get you down. I understand you ignored Petra. I thought I might be a little more influential.” Levi kept his tone disinterested. An excess of empathy was likely to send Midorima even further on the defensive. "Of course if you'd prefer, we can wait for Takao to talk you down. His team should be--"

"I am a grown man with no need of a--a _handler_! Takao can do no more about this than anyone else, assuming he even makes it back. How do you not see that?" It was clear from the way Midorima was losing his well-cultivated composure that bringing Takao into the conversation was a mistake. Levi noted Midorima’s reaction privately then shifted his weight until he was fully facing him.

"Because you’re a grown man hiding from the sky by standing on the roof. That is what you’re doing, isn’t it? The entire problem is that you can no longer determine how to act based on the position of the stars and what they tell you to carry around with you for luck. Or perhaps better named, for protection.” Midorima was turning away from him again but Levi saw him go still when he mentioned protection. “You’re how old, twenty?”

“Nineteen.”

“And your mother, did she believe in these horoscopes?”

“She did not.”

Levi nodded, even though Midorima couldn’t see it. “So you survived your childhood and adolescence right up until you discovered these horoscopes without their protection. Remarkable.”

Midorima turned his head toward his shoulder, looking at Levi from the corner of his eye. “There was considerably less at stake in those days. I was not a child fighting titans.”

“You are still a child fighting titans. When you’re not throwing tantrums, that is.”

Midorima’s jaw flexed and the roof was silent for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice was strained. “What are you hoping to achieve with this?”

“I want you off my roof. Keep up, Shintarou. And I want you to understand why this is so important to you so that you can start to deal with it, preferably by the time you’re off my roof.”

Levi watched as Midorima gripped the papers again. “I know why I do it. All you can do to survive in this world is ensure you have done all you can to put yourself in the best possible position when fate comes for you.”

Fancy words but Levi ignored them. “That is some well-woven bullshit. You do it because if you don’t you will die. And he will die. And they will die.” Midorima’s hand tightened around the scroll. “You’re going to die anyway. So is he. So are all of us. But binding that together with whether you have the right lucky item on the day they die is just a staggering level of hubris. Now,” he continued as Midorima began to turn toward him once again, “I do realize you are an arrogant brat and selfishness comes easily to you but if your goal is really to protect them you might want to take yourself out of it.”

Midorima’s eyes widened then narrowed as Levi spoke. It looked as though his mouth was shrinking and Levi braced himself for another outburst, but instead Midorima tilted his head back, pursed his lips, and spat at him. It crossed the distance easily and struck Levi’s collar. He wouldn’t have predicted Midorima would do something quite this disgusting but he was prepared for it, merely rolling his eyes. Midorima was immature and naive but it didn’t mean he was inobservant. Perhaps he needed to see an obsession overcome to really get it.

“Your aim is impressive as ever. But. Whether I clean this off now or later, I will still die. You will still die. Everyone will still die.” Midorima’s jaw dropped but Levi continued. “However, if you were to fall off this roof and die right now, I would not believe it was because your spittle is resting on my jacket nor because your horoscope ranked you poorly. It would be because you made a choice to be on this roof, you made a choice not to come down sooner, and you refused to listen to the advice of those who had your best interest at heart and told you to come down. If I attributed your death to this mess, it would render it meaningless. If I attributed it to your horoscope, it would be meaningless.

Is that your goal? To make everything that happens so utterly about your own priorities as to render the contributions of everyone else around you meaningless? If so, you are well on your way and you can stay up here as long as you like. If not, then get the hell down.” His piece said, Levi turned toward one of the nearest windows; now that surprise was not an issue he could take an easier route and get rid of this jacket as soon as possible.

Midorima’s voice was no less strained when he called out, though it was at least a little louder. A good sign. “I don’t know how.”

Levi sighed. “You’d do better talking to your team or your partner about that. Unless you mean how to get down. Letting them know you can’t get down would be a horrible idea.”

“I can get down!” Midorima grumbled, petulant as ever.

“Oh, good.” Levi ducked into the open window, turning briefly to face Midorima one last time. “I’d say then that that’s a good place to start.” With that he withdrew but didn’t immediately leave. Only when he heard Midorima’s gear fire and saw his shadow descending did he finally start back toward his quarters.


End file.
